Intrenching-shovel carrier.



No. 845,348. PATBNTBD FEB. 26, 1907.

1-2; T. GIBSON. INTRENGHING SHOVEL CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED 0GT.16. 1905.

WITNESSES" THE NORRIS FIVETERS cm. wAsmnmoN, p. c.

EDWARD TINKHAM GIBSON,

OF MATAWAN, NEW JERSEY.

lNTRENCHlNG-SHOVEL CARRIER.

No. 845,348. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 26, 1907,

Application filed October 16, 1905. Serial No. 283,049.

To a whom it puny concern/1 Be it known that I, EDWARD TIWKHAMv GIBsON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Matawan, in the county of Monmouth and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Intrenching-Shovel Carriers, of which the following is a specification.

Intrenching-shovels carried by soldiers are usually provided with a sheath adapted to 1 receive the blade of the shovel, and the sheath is provided with a hanger, whereby it is held in position on one side of the wearer. The sheath has a closed extremity which is adapted to protect the cutting end of the shovel-blade and an open extremity which provides a mouth for the insertion of the blade into the sheath, and in this specification I will refer to said open extremity as the mouth extremity of the sheath.

The primary object of this improvement is to provide an intrenching-shovel carrier hav ing ahanger which maybe attached to a waistbelt without necessitating a disconnecting of the connected ends of the belt and in which carrier the hanger admits of the lower end of the shovel-blade sheath being swung in the direction of the front of the wearer and in which the said sheath is normally supported by said hanger in a position wherein the mouth of the sheath is at the lower end of the sheath. when the sheath is carrying an intrenching-shovel and in which is provided means adapted to hold said blade in said sheath.

The second object of this improvement is to provide an intrenching-shovel carrier in which the hanger is provided with waistbelt-engaging means so disposed in its rela tion to the mouth extremity of the sheath and to the section of the sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer as to admit of the closed extremity of the sheath reaching a level above the lower edge of the wearers waist-belt, which renders it possible for the carrier to carry an intrenching-shovel which is provided with a handle having a length which would render it liable to be swung between the wearers legs if the carrier did not admit of the shovel being carried well up on the side of th wearers body.

As a sheath supported as just described would, ii the attachment of the hanger to the sheath was confined to a spot adjacent to the mouth of the sheath, tend to tilt in the di rection of the adjacent arm of the wearer when the shovel was removed from the carrier, and consequently interfere with. the free movement of this arm when the wearer is using the shovel, the improvement also aims which admits of the sheath being readily turned to reverse the positions of its extremities and of gravity acting to hold the sheath in this position.

Furthermore, the improvement aims to 1 provide intrenching-shovel carriers in which means are provided for protecting the beaks of the waist-belt-engaging hooks, so that when a number of such carriers are together the hooks will not hook into carriers to which they-do not belong. In the sheath which has been furnished by the Ordnance Depart ment of the United States Army the section of the sheath which is intended to face away fromthe body of the wearer has attached to it at its mouth extremity a loop-shaped strap-holder, which loosely holds a strap adapted to encircle the handle of an intrenching-shovcl.

A further object of my improvement is to provide an intrenching-shovel carrier in which the line of pull between a hanger attached to the section of the shovel-sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer and a shovel-holding strap adapted to hold the blade of an intrenching-shovel in the sheath is a direct one insteadoi an indirect one.

The most important part of my invention consists in providing an intrenching-shovel carrier in which the sheath for covering the blade of the shovel is provided with a pivotally-attached hanger having a hook which is adapted to be hooked to a waist-belt and in which the sheath is also provided with a device which is secured to the sheath and adapted to be held in engagement with the shoulder end of said blade when said sheath is on said blade and in which intrenching-shovel carrier means are provided for detachably holding said device in said engagement and in which the said sheath is normally supported by said hanger in a position wherein the mouth of the sheath is at the lower eiid of the sheath when the sheath is carrying an intrenchingshovel.

- The invention consists, second, of an intrenching-shovel carrier in which a hanger, comprising waist-belt-engaging means, is so attached by its lower extremity to the section of the shovel-sheath which is adapted to'provide in the carrier a construction to face the body of a wearer that when an intrenching-shovel is being carried by the carrier the said hanger suspends the said sheath in a position wherein its closed extremity projects above the lower edge of the belt, thereby providing an intrenchingshovel carrier which admits of the accomplishment of the second-stated object of the invention.

The invention consists, third, of an intrenching-shovel carrier in which the hanger is provided with a joint having its axis so disposed in its relation to the center of gravity of the shovel-sheath that when the intrenching-shovel carrier is carrying an intrenching-shovel said axis is on a plane below that of the said center of gravity and which joint admits of a turning movement being made in the carrier to reverse the extremities of said sheath when the carrier is not carrying a shovel and to dispose the said center of gravity below the plane of said axis, thereby providing an intrenching-shovel carrier which admits of the accomplishment of the third one of the stated objects of the invention.

The invention further consists in providing in an intrenching-shovel carrier which comprises a hook for assuming a hooked engagement with a waist-belt means for the protection of the beak of the hook when not in use and the invention still further consists of an intrenching-shovel carrier which in addition to possessing a pivotally-attached hanger adapted to be hooked to a waist-belt is also provided with a shovel-holding strap which is secured to the same section of the intrenching-shovel sheath that the said hanger is secured to, thereby accomplishing the last of the stated objects of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of a selected embodiment of my invention, except that it does not show means for horizontal adjustment, and in this figure the improved intrenching-shovel carrier is shown in use on a soldier wearing the United States army ammunition waist-belt and the carrier is shown carrying an intrenching shovel. Fig. 2 is a view which diii'ers from that which is shown in Fig. 1 in that it exhibits the intrenching-shovel carrier shown in Fig. 1 as it appears when the carrier is not carrying an intrenching-shovel. Fig. 3 is a view of the section of the intrenching-shovel sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer, the arrangement of the parts of the intrenching-shovel carrier being the same as that which is embodied in Fig. 1. Fig. 4- is an end view of a transverse section of the carrier when constructed as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the section being made on the dotted line X shown in Fig. 3. Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8 are views of modifications, Fig. 7 being a perspective view in the direction of the secl l l l l l tion of the sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer, and Figs. 5, 6, and 8 being sectional views of modifications. Fig. 9 1S a view ln'which is embodied all of the features of my invention, and in this figure the carrier is illustrated attached to a portion of a United States army ammunition waist belt, and the dotted outline of the sheath shows the position to which it may be turned. Fig. 10 is a view ota modification, of which Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line X. Fig. 11 is a view of a modification, of which Fig. 8 is-a sectional view on the line K. Fig. 12 is a view of a modification, of which Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line X In the drawings the part a of the intrenching-shovel carrier forms the section of the intrenching-shovel sheath A which is adapted to face the body of a wearer, and the part (1 forms the section of the shovel-sheath which is intended to face away from the body of the wearer. The shovel-sheath A has a closed extremity a and a mouth extremity a and a mouth a (See Fig. 4.) In Fig. 1' the shovel-sheath A is shown drawn over the blade 13 of an intrenching-shovel B and held on the blade by shovel-holding means consisting of a shovel-holding strap C, which is n'ovided on its end portions with cooperating fastening means 0 and c and adapted to encircle the handle of an intrenching-shovel and engage the shoulder end Z) of the blade. The said. sheath A has attached to it a stra holder a, which in my improvement is on t 1e section of the sheath which is adapted to face the body of a wearer, and to this strap-holder I undetachably attach the said shovelholding strap C by means of a rivet D, Fig. 3, i or the purpose of preventing the loss of the said strap from the carrier and for the further purpose of securing it to the section of the shovelsheath A to which the hanger is attached in order that the line of pull between the hanger and the said shovel-holding strap C may be a direct one instead of an indirect one.

The hanger which I exhibit in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, and which is indicated by the letter E, comprises waist-belt-engaging means F, con sisting in this instance of a hook which is adapted to assume a hooked engagement with a suitable one of the eyelet-holes g, which exist in the United States army ammunition waist-belt G between its pockets 9; a hook-carrier H, consisting in this instance of a piece of leather which is doubled over the base end f, Fig. 4, of the hook; a j oint-forming device 1, consisting in this instance of a double-headed button, the shank of which transiixes the said hook-carrier H and also transiixes an extension-piece J which in this instance consists of a piece of leather, and as the hanger is to be hung from a waist-belt by means of the said waistbeltengaging means F the said means F is at the upper extremity of the hanger. The button trenching-shovel (see I can be formed from a rivet and a bur. The hanger thus formed from the parts F, H, I,

and J of the intrenching-shovel carrier illusing an intrenching-shovel to extend to a level above the upper edge of the wearers waist-belt, the length of my hanger in this instance is less than the length of the said sheath between its mouth extremity and its closed extremity. Consequently when an intrenching-shovel is being carried by the carrier the said hanger is in this instance disposed in its entirety between the horizontal planes of the upper and lower extremities of the sheath.

The described hook-carrier H and the described extension-piece J are adapted to be turned in opposite directions on the shank of the described joint-forming device I, and this said joint-forming device has its axis so disposed in its relation to the center of gravity of the shovel-sheath A that when the intrenching-shovel carrier is carrying an in- Fig. 1) the said axis is on a plane below that of the said center of gravity. Consequently when the carrier is not carrying an intrenching-shovel the said joint-forming device admits of a turning movement being made in the carrier to reverse the extremities of the said sheath and of gravity acting to hold the sheath in this reversed position, (see Fig. 2,) and thereby effect the accomplishment of the second of the hereinbefore-described objects of the invention.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 5 and Fig. 12 the waist-belt-engaging means F, consisting in this instance of a hook adapted to be hooked over the upper edge of a waistbelt, is carried by a hook-carrier H, which in this instance consists of a metal strip which is integral with the just-mentioned hook and which hook-carrier H is in this instance attached to the part a of the intrenchingshovel carrier by means of the joint-forming device I, on the shank of which device the said part c is adapted to turn for the purpose hereinbefore explained, and the axis of the said joint-forming device I is disposed in the car rier in the manner hereinbefore explained.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 6 and Fig. 10 the waist-belt-engaging means F consisting in this instance of a double hook adapted to assume a hooked engagement with one of the upper and one of the lower eyelet-holes g which exist in the United States army ammunition waist-belt G, is carried by a hook-carrier H which in this instance consists of a piece of leather, and which hook-carrier H is in this instance attached to the part a of the .intrenchingshovel carrier by means of a joint-forming device 1 on the shank of which device the said part a is adapted to turn.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 7 the waist-belt-engaging means F consisting in this instance of two hooks adapted to be hooked into suitable ones of the eyelet-holes g and g which exist in the said waist-belt G, Figs. 1 and 2, adjacent to its lower edge, is carried by a hook-carrier H which in this instance consists of a piece of leather provided on its lower extremity with two sleeves h and ft, in which a joint-forming device I I is swiveled and which jointforming device I I is also swiveled in extension means J J which in this instance consists of two sleeves, which are attached to the part a of the intrenching-shovel carrier. The said hook-carrier H and the said extension means J J are adapted to be turned in opposite directions on the shafts of the said joint-forming device I I, and this said jointiorming device I 1 has its axis so disposed in its relation to the center of gravity of the shovel-sheath A that when the intrenchingshovel carrier shown in Fig. 7 is carrying an intrenching-shovel the said axis is on a plane below that of the said center of gravity, and when the carrier is not carrying an intrenching-shovel the said oint-forming device 1 I admits of a turning movement being made in the carrier to reverse the extremities of the said sheath and of gravity acting to hold the sheath in this reversed position, as indicated by the dottedv outline of the sheath A in Fig. 7. To protect the beak of a hook employed in an intrenching-shovel carrier for furnishing the carrier with waistbelt-engaging means, I provide a hook-hole L in the shovel-sheath, into which the said hook may be hooked when not in use.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 8 and Fig. 1 1 the waist-beltengaging means F consisting in this instance of a hook adapted to be hooked into a suitable one of the eyelet-holes which exist in the described United States army waist-belt adjacent to its lower edge, is carried by a hook-carrier H, which in this instance consists of a piece of leather having an integral joint-forming ortion I and an integral extension portion J which latter is attached to the part a of the intrenching-shovel carrier, or, in other words, to the section of the sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer ad jacent to the mouth extremity of said sheath, so as to have the end of said portion J 2 point ing in the direction of the closed extremity a of the said sheath, and thereby dispose the axis of said joint-forming portion I at the mouth extremity of the said sheath, in order that the sheath may be turned from the position in which it is shown in full lines in Fig. 8 to the position in which it is shown in dotted lines in this figure. I

In Fig. 9, which is a figure in which is embodied all of the features of my invention, the waist-belt-engaging means F consisting in this instance of two hooks which are adapted to be hooked into two adjacent eyeletholes 9 and g in the lower row of eyelet-holes which exist in the described United States Army waist-belt G, is carried by a hookcarrier H", which in this instance consists of a piece of leather provided with a series of horizontally arranged buttonholes 71/ through one of which the shank of a jointforming device I (consisting in this instance of a double-headed button) transfixes the said hook-carrier H and also transfixes an extension-piece J which in this instance consists of a piece of leather which is attached to the section of the sheath A, which is adapted to face the body of the wearer adjacent to the mouth of the sheath. The described hook-carrier H and the described extension-piece J are adapted to be turned in opposite directions on the shank of the said joint-forming device 1 and this said joint-forming device I has its axis so disposed in its relation to the center of gravity of the sheath A that when the intrenchingshovel carrier is carrying an intrenchingshovel the said axis is on a plane below that of the said center of gravity. The said ointforming device I is adapted to be unbuttoned from and buttoned in any one of the said buttonholes if, and the object of this is to provide the carrier with means which admits of a horizontal adjustment being made in the carrier between the said waist-beltengaging means F and the said sheath A to dispose the said sheath in such relation to said waist -belt -engaging means F as to adapt the carrier to support the said sheath at the desired whereas if the carrier was not provided with the just-described means (or its equivalent) for horizontal adjustment it would be impossible in many instances for the carrier to support the said sheath exactly at the desired point on a hip of the wearer when the said waist-belt-engaging means was only adapted to engage with a waist belt between its pockets g 9, Fig. 1.

I have described my plied to a carrier which an intrenching shovel; ment is adapted to be applied to a carrier for an intrenching-tool known as a pick-mattock.

By special reference to Fig. 4 it will be seen that in the construction shown in this figure I provide an intrenching-shovel carrier in improvement as ap- 1s adapted to carry point on a hip of the wearer,

but the improveedge of the belt, the

which the sheath A when in an erect position (the position it occupies when the carrier suspends an intrenching-shovel on the side of a wearer) has its closed end a uppermost and in which carrier hanger has an attached portion and a flexible portion, the attached portion being the portion of the leather extension-piece J, which is immovably held in contact with the section a of the sheath by means of the rivets 1c, and the flexible portion being the portion between said-attached portion and the distal end of the hanger, which flexible portion faces the said section a and projects from said attached portion toward the horizontal plane of the closed end a of the erect sheath and comprises a hook F, provided to assume a hooked engagement with a waist-belt, (see Fig. 1,) and it will be seen that as the extension-piece J is formed from leather the said flexible portion is adapted to swing diametrically away from and against the face of the said section a of the sheath, and that, furthermore, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the carrier is adapted to admit of the sheath A and the hook F being passed upward on opposite surfaces of a waist-belt to hang said sheath from said belt in a position in which the closed end of the erect sheath is located above the plane of the lower said hanger being of suitable length and its said attached portion being suitably disposed on said section to adapt the carrier to admit of this.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is v 1. An intrenching-shovel carrier comprising a sheath adapted to receive the blade of an intrenching-shovel, a shovel-holding strap permanently fixed'at the mouth extremity of the sheath and on that side of the sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer, and a hanger said shovel-holding strap provided on its end portions with co operating fastening means, and adapted to encircle the handle of an intrenching-shovel and engage the shoulder end of the blade to secure said sheath to said blade; said hanger being attached to the section of the sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer and comprising means adapted to engage a waist-belt.

2. An intrenching-shovel carrier comprising a sheath having a closed extremity and a mouth extremity and adapted to receive the blade of an intrenching-shovel, a hanger, and a device secured to said sheath and adapted to be held in engagement with the shoulder end of said blade when said sheath is on said blade, and means adapted to detachably hold said device in said engagement; said hanger being pivotally attached by its lower extremity to the section of the sheath wlnch is adapted to face the body of the wearer, and said hanger comprising a hook adapted ICC to be hooked to a waist-belt to support the sheath in position on the wearer, and said hanger normally extending in approximately the same direction as that of the closed extremity of the sheath when the sheath is car rying an intrenching-shovel.

3. An intrenching-shovel carrier comprising a sheath having a closed extremity and a mouth extremity and adapted to receive the blade of an intrenching-shovel, a hanger, and a device secured to said sheath and adapted to be held in engagement with the shoulder end of said blade when said sheath is on said blade, and means adapted to detachably hold said device in said engagement; said hanger being attached to the section of the sheath'whicn is adapted to face thebody of the wearer, and said hanger being adapted to engage the fabric of the body of a waist-belt and at the same time intersect the horizontal plane of the lower edge of the belt and the vertical plane of the inner surface of the belt and at the same time support the sheath in a position wherein the closed extremity of the sheath projects above the lower edge of the belt and faces toward the outer surface of the belt.

4. An intrenching-shovel carrier comprising a sheath having a closed extremity and a mouth extremity and adapted to receive the blade of an intrenching-shovel, a hanger, and a device secured to said sheath and adapted to be held in engagement with the shoulder end of said blade when said sheath is on said blade, and means adapted to detachably hold said device in said engagement; sald hanger being attached by its lower extremity to the section of the sheath which is' adapted to face the body of the wearer and said hanger comprising a swivel-joint, and a metallic device adapted to engage a waist-belt; said hanger normally extending in approximately the same direction as that of the closed extremity of the sheath when the sheath is carrying an intrenching-shove 5. An intrenching-tool carrier comprising a hanger, and a sheath adapted to receive the blade of an intrenching-tool, said sheath being provided with a hookhole; said hanger comprising a hook adapted to engage a waistbelt, and said hanger adapted to admit of said hook being hooked into said hook-hole when the hook is not in use.

6. An intrenchingtool carrier 'comprising a hanger, and a sheath adapted to receive the blade of an intrenching-tool; said hanger comprising a hook adapted to engage a waistbelt; and said sheath having means provided to furnish protection for the beak of said hook when the hook is not in use.

7. An intrenching-shovel carrier comprising a sheath having a closed extremity and a mouth extremity and adapted to receive the blade of an intrenching-shovel, a hanger, and a device secured to said sheath and adapted to be held in engagement with the shoulder end of said blade when said sheath is on said blade, and means adapted to detachably hold said device in said engagement; said hanger being attached by its 10 er extremity to the section of the sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer, and said hanger comprising a piece of pliable non-metallic material and a device adapted to engage a waist-belt; said material being attached at one end to the last said device between the horizontal planes of the upper and lower extremities of the said sheath when the said sheath is in position for carrying an intrenching-shovel. 8. An intrenching-shovel carrier comprising a sheath having a closed extremity and a mouth extremity and adapted to receive the blade of an intrenching-shovel, a hanger, and

a device secured to said sheath and adapted to be held in engagement with the shoulder end of said blade when said sheath is on said blade, and means adapted to detachably hold said device in said engagement; said hanger being pivotally attached by its lover extremity to the section of the sheath v hich is adapted to face the body of the wearer, and said hanger being adapted to engage a waistbelt; and said pivotal attachment being ad apted to admit of the reversal of the extremities of the sheath when the last said device is in engagement with a waist-belt.

9. An intrenching-shovel carrier comprising a sheath having a closed extremity and a mouth extremity and adapted to receive the blade of an intrenchingshovel, a hanger, and a device secured to said sheath and adapted to be held in engagement with the shoulder end of said blade when said sheath is on said blade, and means adapted to detachably hold said device in said engagement; said hanger being attached by its low er extremity to the section of the sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer; and said hanger comprising a swivel-joint, and a hook adapted to engage a waist-belt.

ll). An intrenchmg-sh ovel carrier comprising a sheath having a closed extremity and a mouth extremity and adapted to receive the blade of an intrenching-shovel, a hanger, and a strap secured to said sheath and adapted to encircle the handle of an intrenching-shovel and engage the shoulder end of the blade when said sheath is on said blade, and said strap being provided on its end portions with cooperating fastening means adapted to detachably hold said strap in said engagement; said hanger being attached by its lower extremity to the section of the sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer; and said hanger comprising a swivel-joint, and means adapted to engage a waist-belt.

11. A carrier constructed to be worn by a soldier for carrying an intrenching instrument consisting of a metal tool and a wooden handle for the same; the body part of said 4 adapted to receive the carrier comprising a sheath having a closed extremity and a mouth extremity and adapt ed to receive said metal tool; and said carrier comprising in addition to said body part, a hanger for hanging said body part on a soldier, a flexible strip of leather secured to said sheath and adapted to be held in engagement with an end of said metal tool when said sheath is on said tool, and means adapt ed to detachably hold said strip of leather in said engagement; said hanger being attached to said body part; and said hanger comprising a swivel-joint, and a hook adapted to engage a waist-belt.

12. A11 intrenching-shovel carrier comprising a sheath having a closed upper extremity and an open lower extremity and blade of an intrench- 1ng-shovel, a hanger for hanging the said sheath from a waist-belt, and a device secured to said sheath and adapted to be held in engagement with the shoulder end of said blade when said sheath is on said blade, and means adapted to detachably hold said device in said engagement; said hanger having its lower extremity attached to the section of the sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer, and said hanger comprising a part which passes upward between the inner I l i l l I l l l l 1 surface of the belt and the body of the wearer and over the fabric of the belt when the belt is engaged by the hanger; and said lower extremity of the hanger being attached to the said section of the sheath in such relation to the upper end of the sheath as to admit of the said closed extremity of the sheath projecting above the lower edge of the belt and in front of the outer surface of the belt when the belt is engaged by the hanger.

13. An intrenching-shovel carrier comprising a sheath having a closed upper extremity and an open lower extremity and adapted to receive the blade of an intrenching-shovel, a hanger for hanging the said sheath from a waist-belt, and a strap secured to said sheath and adapted to encircle the handle of an intrenching-shovel and engage the shoulder end of the blade when said sheath is on said blade, and said strap being provided on its end portions with cooperating fastening means adapted to detachably hold said strap in said engagement; said hanger having its lower extremity attached to the section of the sheath which is adapted to face the body of the wearer, and said hanger comprising a part which passes upward between the inner surface of the belt and the body of the wearer and over the fabric of the belt when the belt is engaged by the hanger; and said lower extremity oi the hanger being attached to the said section of the sheath in such relation to the upper end of the sheath as to cause the said clcsed extremity of the sheath to project above the lower edge of the belt and in front of the outer surface of the belt when the belt is engaged by the hanger.

In testimony whereof I have name to this specification two subscribing witnesses.

EDVARD TINKHAM GIBSON. flVitnesses MAUI) C. GIBsON,

SARAH A. CURTISS.

signed my in the presence 01 

